Down this page you will find some snippets of stories and such, as well as pics from the past, enjoy!
MORE STORIES TO BE ADDED SOON!
MORE STORIES TO BE ADDED SOON!
Any stories, pics, flyers relating to the Ruskin Arms are always welcomed. Please get in touch if you want this to be included.
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Photo left: Sandy McRitchie (L) and Derek Lyon (R)
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"We played the Ruskin Arms with Deep Machine, but also Desolation Angels, and Elixir. We were the first band that 'extended' the original stage into the audience with pallets and beer crates. A lot of bands then started to copy that. We always put on a big show with flash pans, dry ice and everything, it was important to have effects. In those days you would get about £20 to £25 pounds for a show, and that then had to go towards, lights, P.A, and petrol money for each individual, so we never earned anything but we did it for the love of the music, and getting the exposure"
Derek Lyon / Sandy McRitchie - Satan's Empire
We played at 'The Bin' a couple of times, approximately '88-'89, unsure of the actual dates. This was our headlining night. We also played along side Malicious. I used to be there most Friday, Saturday nights. After being to The intrepid Fox earlier in the day. We was always around the table near the garden, and got there early to play 3 card Bragg before DJ set up, with the Boltwoods and others. Great place.
Gary Swan - FRICTION
Our line up:
Gary Swan - rhythm guitar and vocals
Tom Jennings - drums
Paul Kent - lead
Sean Cocklin - bass
Gary Swan - FRICTION
Our line up:
Gary Swan - rhythm guitar and vocals
Tom Jennings - drums
Paul Kent - lead
Sean Cocklin - bass
I part exchanged my Yamaha RS125 for a Yamaha RD250 from Kaseys Motorcycles in Wanstead...I got it home and polished it within an inch of its life and the same evening that I got it, I took it up the Ruskin and parked outside with all the other bikes. I had about 4 or 5 pints of bitter and as it was summer... I was standing outside with about 30 others... the music was loud and life was good, it was Saturday disco night and it was about 11pm....people started leaving and bikes started riding off so I thought I would make a move myself.... I started the RD250 up and let it warm up whilst talking to other biker mates there.... as I left I popped a wheelie and flipped the bike outside the saloon entrance... I remember the sparks lit up the night sky..... everyone came running into the road and I was really embarrassed.... managed to get it home and it bloody hurt the next day.
Paul Saxby
Paul Saxby
Above: guitarist Mark Kirkman / RANDOM BLACK back in the early 80's. Photo provided by Mark Kirkman
“I played 'The Bin' (as it was affectionately called) on many occasions. We used to see a few famous and infamous faces in the crowd, that’s for sure. And not just musicians. It was a proper East End boozer; a man’s pub and it was a great venue. Joe Lucy and his son Tommy were lovely people. One time our singer fell off the stage, one time in the backstage area a girl nicked my leather trousers after we’d become 'comfortable' and I remember Joe sorting one or two idiots out. The crowd were always great to us, and really knowledgeable about their NWOBHM. I still get notes sent to me from old days Ruskin goers who remember us with affection, which is very humbling”.
“I’m one of the people who didn’t go to the first Iron Maiden gig with Bruce Dickinson at 'The Bin. Last count, about 60,000 attended it! It’s one that I wish I had gone to. We used to go to the Metal Disco there too, if we were not gigging ourselves. My abounding memory is that the people who used to go to The Ruskin were pretty special people; friendly, interesting and great Rock fans. I feel lucky that I got to spend time there as a fan as well as gig there. The famous music pubs and clubs like The Ruskin, The Bridge House, The Marquee, The Royal Standard, The Cartoon etc. are sorely missed by everyone involved in music”.
Mark Kirkman – Random Black / RedLine
“I’m one of the people who didn’t go to the first Iron Maiden gig with Bruce Dickinson at 'The Bin. Last count, about 60,000 attended it! It’s one that I wish I had gone to. We used to go to the Metal Disco there too, if we were not gigging ourselves. My abounding memory is that the people who used to go to The Ruskin were pretty special people; friendly, interesting and great Rock fans. I feel lucky that I got to spend time there as a fan as well as gig there. The famous music pubs and clubs like The Ruskin, The Bridge House, The Marquee, The Royal Standard, The Cartoon etc. are sorely missed by everyone involved in music”.
Mark Kirkman – Random Black / RedLine
Pagan Altar - Ruskin Arms 1978-81 by Alan Jones
This all happened about forty years ago and I was a teenager at the time so I just remember bits and pieces really but I will try to get down some of the more amusing and pre spinal tap moments.
When we played the Ruskin for the first time we had just formed as Pagan Altar in 1978 after being Hydra for about two years before. As Pagan Altar and this being our first gig we decided to do a big fly poster campaign of Hammersmith Odeon sized posters of bright orange with big bold letters and the words “Thorin Music presents Pagan Altar at the Ruskin Arms” to make ourselves sound and look big. We also spent a couple of nights riding around in our van dodging the police and jumping out the back when it was all clear and posting in some outrageous places. We managed to get two posers on two of the sign boards of Bow Church and also stuck a poster on the back of a bus that had stopped at the traffic lights. I think it worked because we were invited quite a few times over the next few years.
In the late 70s and early 80s all the bands were big into firework displays and we were no exception, in fact I think there was a bit of an arms race on who could blow the Ruskin up the most. This is where the cock ups and accidents would happen and there is no way in hell you could ever get away with some of the things the bands did then. On one occasion while visiting the bomb shop (visual effects shop) my dad (Terry Jones) decided to buy an effect called a maroon which was a cross between a banger and a hand grenade. When we let it off halfway through a song the shock wave nearly blew us of the stage. We only ever used it the once.
Another time we had an over enthusiastic helper who wouldn’t stop playing around with everything and had knocked one of the jerbs (Big silver fountain firework) towards the band. When it went off a big silver fountain shot right in the middle of the stage straight at us and the drums. It was about ten very long seconds until our lighting and effects guy could get to it and turn it away.
On another occasion we were having a bit of trouble with our battery which fired the effects off and had gone a bit flat. Normally the flash pots would go off at the end of our first song which was Pagan Altar. On this occasion nothing happened so we changed it for the next song, nothing happened again. By about the fifth or six song I had totally forgotten all about it and was standing directly over it when it finally decided to go off and nearly ruined my marriage prospects for life.
Last but not least of us trying to burn down the Ruskin was our drummer at the time Ivor Harper who in the tradition of drummers everywhere never had a screw tightened. He somehow managed to set alight the curtains behind the drums. We never had a smoke machine at the time and used smoke tablets that were used for plumbing to check for leaks in pipes. For one they were quite toxic which made everybody go to the bar for a drink, and secondly they were highly flammable. Instead of putting one or two tablets in the tin we used, Ivor put about twenty in and managed to catch fire to the bottom of the curtain. All of a sudden this orange glow appeared behind the drums. As Ivor was trying to get it out someone came around behind the stage and said to Ivor “is that supposed to be happening”. He replied “oh yes it’s all part of the stage act”, while stamping on the bottom of the curtain. We were not the only ones that were doing this on regular occasions and I am amazed the place is still standing. The Manager at the time was Joe Lucy and he said he always knew when we had played there because his bedroom was always full of smoke and he could never find his bed.
Our bass player at the time Glen Robinson was late for the gig on another occasion and we were worried he wasn’t going to turn up. He lived opposite West Ham's old ground so he wasn’t that far away. When he did finally arrived he had a hole in his head the size of a walnut and blood oozing out. We thought he had been mugged but apparently his girlfriend had hit him over the head with a bottle. He insisted on playing the gig and did the whole thing concussed because I don’t think he remembered doing it after. The effect on stage looked great though because he looked like the mummy.
These are a few things I remember about playing at the Ruskin and I have very fond memories of it. Since 2005 the band reformed and has been lucky enough to play places around the world and although my dad passed away in 2015. I started the band up again in 2017.
I am very honoured to have been part of such a well loved venue's history along with so many great bands that played there as well.
Alan Jones / Pagan Altar
Band links:
https://www.facebook.com/Pagan-Altar-301743109887693/
http://www.paganaltar.com
https://paganaltarofficial.bandcamp.com/
This all happened about forty years ago and I was a teenager at the time so I just remember bits and pieces really but I will try to get down some of the more amusing and pre spinal tap moments.
When we played the Ruskin for the first time we had just formed as Pagan Altar in 1978 after being Hydra for about two years before. As Pagan Altar and this being our first gig we decided to do a big fly poster campaign of Hammersmith Odeon sized posters of bright orange with big bold letters and the words “Thorin Music presents Pagan Altar at the Ruskin Arms” to make ourselves sound and look big. We also spent a couple of nights riding around in our van dodging the police and jumping out the back when it was all clear and posting in some outrageous places. We managed to get two posers on two of the sign boards of Bow Church and also stuck a poster on the back of a bus that had stopped at the traffic lights. I think it worked because we were invited quite a few times over the next few years.
In the late 70s and early 80s all the bands were big into firework displays and we were no exception, in fact I think there was a bit of an arms race on who could blow the Ruskin up the most. This is where the cock ups and accidents would happen and there is no way in hell you could ever get away with some of the things the bands did then. On one occasion while visiting the bomb shop (visual effects shop) my dad (Terry Jones) decided to buy an effect called a maroon which was a cross between a banger and a hand grenade. When we let it off halfway through a song the shock wave nearly blew us of the stage. We only ever used it the once.
Another time we had an over enthusiastic helper who wouldn’t stop playing around with everything and had knocked one of the jerbs (Big silver fountain firework) towards the band. When it went off a big silver fountain shot right in the middle of the stage straight at us and the drums. It was about ten very long seconds until our lighting and effects guy could get to it and turn it away.
On another occasion we were having a bit of trouble with our battery which fired the effects off and had gone a bit flat. Normally the flash pots would go off at the end of our first song which was Pagan Altar. On this occasion nothing happened so we changed it for the next song, nothing happened again. By about the fifth or six song I had totally forgotten all about it and was standing directly over it when it finally decided to go off and nearly ruined my marriage prospects for life.
Last but not least of us trying to burn down the Ruskin was our drummer at the time Ivor Harper who in the tradition of drummers everywhere never had a screw tightened. He somehow managed to set alight the curtains behind the drums. We never had a smoke machine at the time and used smoke tablets that were used for plumbing to check for leaks in pipes. For one they were quite toxic which made everybody go to the bar for a drink, and secondly they were highly flammable. Instead of putting one or two tablets in the tin we used, Ivor put about twenty in and managed to catch fire to the bottom of the curtain. All of a sudden this orange glow appeared behind the drums. As Ivor was trying to get it out someone came around behind the stage and said to Ivor “is that supposed to be happening”. He replied “oh yes it’s all part of the stage act”, while stamping on the bottom of the curtain. We were not the only ones that were doing this on regular occasions and I am amazed the place is still standing. The Manager at the time was Joe Lucy and he said he always knew when we had played there because his bedroom was always full of smoke and he could never find his bed.
Our bass player at the time Glen Robinson was late for the gig on another occasion and we were worried he wasn’t going to turn up. He lived opposite West Ham's old ground so he wasn’t that far away. When he did finally arrived he had a hole in his head the size of a walnut and blood oozing out. We thought he had been mugged but apparently his girlfriend had hit him over the head with a bottle. He insisted on playing the gig and did the whole thing concussed because I don’t think he remembered doing it after. The effect on stage looked great though because he looked like the mummy.
These are a few things I remember about playing at the Ruskin and I have very fond memories of it. Since 2005 the band reformed and has been lucky enough to play places around the world and although my dad passed away in 2015. I started the band up again in 2017.
I am very honoured to have been part of such a well loved venue's history along with so many great bands that played there as well.
Alan Jones / Pagan Altar
Band links:
https://www.facebook.com/Pagan-Altar-301743109887693/
http://www.paganaltar.com
https://paganaltarofficial.bandcamp.com/
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The artist that did the murals, the ghouls on the pillars and the artwork around the toilet doors (see above) was paid for his work in beer and free rehearsal time...
That amazing artist was Tristan Versailles. Unfortunately he was not given the chance to finish the main piece, and 'The Eye' was only a small part of what should've covered the whole wall.
That amazing artist was Tristan Versailles. Unfortunately he was not given the chance to finish the main piece, and 'The Eye' was only a small part of what should've covered the whole wall.
Gig Annoucement clipping featuring Desolation Angels including a show at the Ruskin Arms.
Thanks for providing this Paul
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Above left: Conrad with Maiden's Steve Harris at The Ruskin Arms. Above right: Conrad with Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P) during a signing session at the Ruskin Arms in June '95
I first arrived at the Ruskins in May 1993... I had just turned 19 and was very naive... This was my first move out of home from my parents; I got off the plane from 'The Gold Coast' Australia to go and live in Manor Park with my biological father that I had never known before. As I was into Heavy Metal music, he recommended that I walk down the road to the Ruskin Arms, where I would meet my kind of crowd / people!!! I first went on a Friday eve; it was rather empty but the guy at the bar, 'Zippy', said to come back on a Saturday eve, so I did. I did not know a single soul there but everyone there welcomed me in with open arms!!! It became my regular Saturday night pub to go to for many years to come; that was 27 years ago now and I am still friends with some of the people that I met there!!! D.J. Barry Morgan introduced me to so many great bands and inspired me to become a Rock / Metal D.J. myself in a few years of going there... I owe my Rock / Metal D.J.-ing career to Barry and the Ruskin Arms!!!
Conrad O'Collins a.k.a 'Auzzie Pete'
Conrad O'Collins a.k.a 'Auzzie Pete'
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Some old, early 80's gig announcement clippings for Iron Maiden at The Ruskin Arms.
Thanks Alex for providing these.
Thanks Alex for providing these.
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Above left; RELAY band-shot at The Ruskin Arms 1986, above right: RELAY gig announcements for the Ruskin Arms
Below right; John (Relay), centre: Uwe (Relay), Tee Rets (L) and Mark (Relay)
Below right; John (Relay), centre: Uwe (Relay), Tee Rets (L) and Mark (Relay)
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80's Essex Metalers RAMPANT were a regular crowd at the Ruskin Arms and the idea for this band actually came to mind and into play one night after a visit to The Ruskin Arms. When the band folded, its singer ignited a new band, RELAY, that also frequented The Ruskin Arms. Frontman / Tee Rets recalls;
One night on the way home from the Ruskin with my friend Rick Tiley, who was a drummer I'd been jamming with, we got talking to some guys on the tube and amazingly two of them were musicians looking to get in a band; guitarist Paul Playle and bassist Aid Fitzpatrick. They were unconnected if I remember rightly, so it was one of those moments in life that just happen sometimes. By the next day we were meeting up jamming and I'd been thinking about trying to get together with another guitarist, Mark Blaxland, I'd met a couple years previously so rang him to see if he was interested. He was and, simply, Rampant was formed there and then.
“We played at The Ruskins quite regularly and were getting more and more gigs there before we parted ways as a band, which was a shame because things were building, but that's how things are sometimes in music and we all went on to do other things with other bands. Being Ruskin regulars where we went to be with our mates, meet people, get pissed, have a laugh, bang our heads, go home with ringing ears and neck ache, it was great to play there and have your friends in the audience getting their nuts down, shouting stuff out and helping your gig go with a bang...mind you, they weren't short of a few bangs accompanied by clouds of smoke from the pyros we used to let off, as did many a band doing the circuit back then. We all thought we were Kiss or someone and insisted on putting on shows that were in danger of not only deafening everybody in there but also making toast of them. How no serious fires ever happened back then in the Ruskin and all the other venues where bands were basically putting on indoor firework displays is beyond me!! It was all great fun though and we saw some things, make no mistake there !!”
Tee Rets – Rampant / Relay
Rampant reformed in 2019 and has a CD single out which can be ordered via the bandcamp link below. Additional information of Rampant via the FB link.
https://rampant2.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NWOBHM.RAMPANT
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Above left: the new RAMPANT, above right: RAMPANT -"Phantom Riders" single.
ELECTRIX – The band that brought the Hollywood Strip sound to East London
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One of the bands that frequented the Ruskin Arms in the early 80's were London locals Electrix, later also known as World Exit before briefly changing name to The Floize.. Electrix were tipped as 'the next big thing' and their shows (mainly Friday night slots) are ranked among the very best at 'The Bin'. Electrix showcased a musical concept that just oozed quality and potential, fusing the raw-edged feel of PunkRock and PubRock with American style GlamRock; a combination that worked wonders but miraculously never got the band over to the next level. Rumour has it the band even grabbed the first prize at an Essex amateur talent show, leaving Iron Maiden second!. Electrix, fronted by the charismatic 6'4 giant Lawrence, a.k.a Caz Cassar, brought the Hollywood Strip sound to East London and played the style of music that would put Guns 'N Roses on the map years after! Even though the band had plans to release a single (a cover version of John Lennon's “Gimme Some Truth”) things never materialized. The line up shrunk from a five piece unit to a 4-piece and eventually a three-piece operating under the name World Exit. The band continued to wow the masses and had penned more than an album's worth of originals including classics such as “Harry” and “25 Years”. Unfortunately the band disappeared from the scene without any officially documented material, but the magic of the band lives on in the memories of those who ever captured the sensation of their 'electric' live shows
Paulus Van
More information about Electrix / World Exit here:
https://www.facebook.com/worldexit
Paulus Van
More information about Electrix / World Exit here:
https://www.facebook.com/worldexit
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Above left and right: Electrix @ the Ruskin Arns, photos by Keith Boltwood
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“I designed this screaming face with Electrix lettering that was used on flyers and t-shirts. I got to know them through my sister, who worked with Laura and Alison, girlfriends of John, guitarist and Tony, bassist. At that time Caz was the singer and Martin the drummer. I made frequent trips to the Ruskin in those days to see bands. Dogwatch were my favourite, Iron Maiden, Angelwitch etc. I remember seeing Charlie Tumahai from Be Bop Deluxe playing with them once, don’t know if it lasted. Also, Buster Bloodvessel (from Bad Manners) was in a managerial role at one point”
Andy Bostock |
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Above left and right; Electrix @ The Ruskin Arms. Photos by Louise Wade
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A band that also played the Ruskin Arms and had its members frequenting the place were Lick That; a female fronted 'Anarchist / Punk to Heavy Rock Band' that was active in the late 80's and into the mid-90's . Lick That had a whole repertoire of originals but never officially released any vinyl or CD's. The band toured all around London and also had a video out there in '95 that includes footage from various gigs including The Ruskin Arms. This video got as far as being aired on Channel 4's 'Noisy Mothers'. The enormous 'Lick That' bone was the band's signature show prop and travelled with the band strapped on top of the car.
More information about Lick That here:
https://www.facebook.com/Lick-That-128734613928218
More information about Lick That here:
https://www.facebook.com/Lick-That-128734613928218
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photo left: Lick That guitarist Debbie, photo right: Lick That guitarist Crispin
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IRON MAIDEN AND PRAYING MANTIS – The Early Days
This is a book written by guitarist Bob 'Angelo' Sawyer; once part of the early incarnation of Iron Maiden, and member of Praying Mantis after that. This book documents the time Bob was part of both bands, and features a wealth of information, accompanied by unique, never published before snaps and details of all the early gigs. More information here: https://www.facebook.com/Bob-Angelo-The-Early-Days-With-Iron-Maiden-Praying-Mantis-335603173145542/ |
THE RUSKIN ARMS football team
The Ruskin Arms also had a 6 a side football team and the photo below shows a classic line up from the late 80's featuring from left to right: Andrew Fox, Marc Taylor, Tony King, Bill Lack, Andy Upton. and Peter Schafer
The Ruskin Arms also had a 6 a side football team and the photo below shows a classic line up from the late 80's featuring from left to right: Andrew Fox, Marc Taylor, Tony King, Bill Lack, Andy Upton. and Peter Schafer
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Ruskin Arms football team photo provided by Marc Taylor. Ruskin Arms footie shirt provided by Andrew Fox
Some more RUSKIN ARMS Football Team photos
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Above left: Andy Fox, right: Bill Lack. Photos by Jeannie Lack
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Above left: Marc Taylor, above right: Ruskin football team. Photos by Jeannie Lack
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I played the Ruskin with the bands Devil's Chariot, Flight 19, VHF and Satan's Empire. I remember Joe Lucy once coming into the music room during a Devil's Chariot soundcheck. He started shouting that we were playing so loud his optics were rattling. We didn't think it was wise to argue with Joe, so we turned our backline down LOL
I remember one of my band members putting his foot through the stage one day, I think that may have been Derek on a Satan's empire gig, and me being too close to a flash bomb during a VHF gig at The Ruskin Arms and having to play a whole gig in pain with my plastic jeans fused to my left leg! The spectacular light shows Satan's Empire, Deep Machine and Desolation Angels put on at The Ruskin; we all lost money putting on these light shows, but we were all kinda in competition with each other, so 'the bigger, the better'. One band. I think it was Deep Machine, set off a massive flash bomb (we later found out it was only meant for outdoor use) which filled the whole of the pub with heavy smoke, we had to vacate the building until the smoke subsided, this was pre Spinal Tap LOL Paul Lewis / Devil's Chariot, VHF, Flight 19, Satan's Empire |
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Ruskin Arms Keyring handed out as a gift
Christmas / New Year '79 or '80. photo provided by Peter Southgate |
First ever Ruskin Arms t-shirt. Also came as a black shirt with a gold print
T-shirt and photos by Keith Boltwood |
Above: Driving South Ruskin Arms 1984
Above: Driving South, left to right: Chris Bailey, Dave Owen , Russell King. photo provided by Russell KIng
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I was the lead vocalist in Driving South. The Ruskin was our debut gig and we played many there. When Driving South disbanded, me and Jeff Gibbs formed Street Legal who also performed many times at the Ruskin
Does anyone remember a band from Portsmouth called High Risk... I remember the singer cutting one of Joe's rickety tables in half with a chainsaw; Joe wasn't amused. High Risk were a very theatrical band with two stunning girl backing singers. I always remember one performance when the girls used to change outfits quickly into cheerleaders outfits with short dresses bending up and down while dancing when the lighting guy noticed one of the girls had no knickers on and diverted his spotlight onto the poor girl who by the time she realised what was going on, the audience had a good look. A record company was supposed to show up for a showcase but didn't show; I think that was the night the table got cut in half. I'm not sure what happened to High Risk they were a cracking band, probably one of the best I've ever seen at the Ruskin Chris Bailey – Driving South / Street Legal 
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Above left: Driving South outside the Ruskin, 1981.Photo provided by Alan Sinclair. Above right: Driving South gig poster
Back in the early 80's, East London based Driving South were a regular act at The Ruskin Arms pub amidst a predominant flow of Metal bands. Yet, their brand of Southern Rock managed to wow the crowds but somehow the band never got beyond the demo status. In 1984 Driving South became Street Legal with the core of the band, singer Chris Bailey, and bassist Jeff Gibbs still at it, and the band took the stage with renowned acts such as Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone, RoachFord and Wrathchild. Eventually, Street Legal became Mr. President in the 90's and continued as a cover-band. This is the story of a band that managed to peak at a time when Metal was the talk of the town, blending in with the scene and those who were in it. Manic Mosh Metal talks with Driving South frontman Chris Bailey.
Above: Driving South photo by Michael Parker
Manic Mosh Metal: When did Driving South come into existence and what was the line-up at the very start?
Chris Bailey: Driving South came about after me and Jeff Gibbs ( a friend from school ) left a Blues band called Badge. Getting a bit fed up with constant rehearsals but no gigs I had made a impromptu appearance with JJ Foot at 'The Three Rabbits' singing “Sweet Home Alabama”; this was probably around 1980. Me and Jeff didn't even acknowledge each other at school, but meeting each other at The Ruskin Arms started what was to become a lifelong friendship and musical sparring partners after deciding that we wanted to start a band playing music that we both loved. Driving South started their early days, rehearsing above 'The Denmark Arms' in East Ham. My brother was a member for a short while. The line up what was to play its debut gig (at The Ruskin incidentally) consisted of Chris Bailey (vocals), Jeff Gibbs (bass), Steve Sawkins (rhythm guitar), Stuart Rollings (lead guitar) and Dave Owen (drums). I think we got the usual 30 quid that was the norm at The Ruskin!
MMM: What were the inspirational sources of the band and what was the style of the band?
CB: Southern Rock was our influence; we used to have a rebel flag as our backdrop and we was listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, 38 Special; the more harder edged Southern bands although we were listening to the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker and Charlie Daniels; they seemed to have more of a Country edge to their music. There probably wasn't many bands doing the same stuff as us as Heavy Rock and Metal was in vogue at the time.
MMM: What was the location of the band and was there a lot of competition from other bands with regards to playing live.
CB: All the band bar one was East Enders; me and Jeff from East Ham, Steve from Barking, Dave from Stratford, Stuart being the odd one out coming from Newcastle but living in Brixton. There was other members who were in the band which I will go into later! Playing The Ruskin was always the gig that you wanted to go well because 60% of the audience was made up from other bands that played there.... I don't think there was any rivalry as far as I can remember; I think we were all involved in our own music; me and Jeff would spend every weekend up The Ruskin regardless of whether we were playing or not! Where else would two guys into Rock music and living in East Ham go???
MMM: What material of Driving South has been recorded and released?
CB: Driving South recorded their 1st demo at the BBC studios Shepherd's Bush around '81 if my memory serves me well; it was organized by Pete Fletcher (Wurzel) who managed to get access via his job. We recorded about four tracks, I think one of which remains today, the rest disappeared in time. In fairness, Pete wasn't a recording engineer so the end result can only be described as average. Driving South's next studio outing was in East Dulwich where we recorded two tracks; a much better result but we had to pay this time, that was around '81 I believe. The 3rd and final time Driving South went into a studio turned out to be a different story, Pete Phillips went on holiday in Bulgaria I believe and met up with a guy called Andy Lovell who was a sound engineer in the famous 'Marquee' studios and managed to persuade him to record Driving South. We recorded two tracks which I have included on my album and it was a fantastic experience; Pete Phillips even played the grand piano that Elton John recorded 'Yellow Brick Road' on. Looking through the Marquee archives was truly mind blowing! I think this took place around '84; that was the Last time Driving South would enter a recording studio.
MMM: Driving South was a regular act at the Ruskin Arms, how did you guys get to play there and what year(s) did you play there?
CB: one of our guitarists (Pete Phillips) kept a diary of gigs that he performed with Driving South, so fortunately I have dates that we played the Ruskin, in order; starting from September '83 we played Friday Sept 9th, Friday Oct 7th, Friday Nov 18th, Friday Dec 9th, then in '84, Friday 13th Jan with Tranz Am supporting, Friday Feb 10th and Friday Feb 24th. As you can see we was pretty much up the Ruskin every month and even more frequent in '84. Pete left in February '84 but there was more gigs played at the Ruskin with Kevin Watson I believe. When not playing the Ruskin we would be playing other local gigs including the 'Three Rabbits', The 'Cranbrook', the 'Bridge House' and the 'Tunnel Club' to name a few. I think Driving South continued till around late '84 early '85.
MMM: You guys were close with Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone, was this as Driving South, or later as Street Legal?
CB: Driving South supported Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone at 'The Bridge House' that came about probably by knowing his band which was pretty much all of Minas Tirith; another regular Ruskin band I was good friends with; Lea the guitarist, Kev the bass player and Mark the keyboard player, they used to come round my flat in Plashet Grove on a Thursday evening and we would listen to music and drink, great times! I often used to have a beer with Paul in a pub just near the top of Green Street on the way to 'The Princess Alice' where Driving South used to rehearse.
MMM: At some point, Driving South morphed into Street Legal; How and when did this happen and did this come with any line-up changes?
CB: Driving South wrapped up around 1984. Street Legal was formed again by me and Jeff. I remember one afternoon in 'The Wakefield' pub we headed back to Jeff's house and drafted an add for Melody Maker looking for musicians to form a Rock band aimed more towards A.O.R. I think we took the Southern Rock thing as far as we could! The 1st person to answer the add was Pete Rainbow (guitar) followed by Barry Everton (guitar), Robin Finesilver (keys) and Danny Rowe (drums). This was to be our longest and most successful line-up; we played numerous gigs all over London, Essex and Kent, even heading out to Paris for a short tour. We opened for a few decent acts (Roachford, Wrathchild ) and we played most of the U.S airbases as well as still doing regular dates at The Ruskin. We had a featured slot on B.B.C Radio Kent; this line-up was to change mainly due to a couple of members getting a little bit messed up with drugs which incidentally led to us getting arrested and locked up at Lake Lakenheath U.S airbase and receiving a ban for life on returning to the base. Me, Jeff and Pete remained in Street Legal; we recruited a new drummer (Spider) and a new guitarist (Jerry Barter) who worked in 'The Marquee Studios' which led us there to do further recordings and also play the famous venue. Once more, the band fragmented leaving me, Jeff and Pete again. We even had a girl keyboard player for a while but that caused problems with girlfriends in the band so that was short lived. We eventually found another drummer (Pete Cowan) and went into a studio in Catford and recorded two tracks. Pete's cousin (Glen Coe) joined the band and we recorded the video “Worlds Changing” which was recorded in “The Red House” studio in Highbury. Street Legal carried on into the early nineties before disbanding. Me, Jeff and Pete the drummer morphed into Mr. President which was a covers band which again toured London and Essex. All in all I think Street Legal was a great band; many ups and downs but hey ho that's Rock and Roll....
Chris Bailey: Driving South came about after me and Jeff Gibbs ( a friend from school ) left a Blues band called Badge. Getting a bit fed up with constant rehearsals but no gigs I had made a impromptu appearance with JJ Foot at 'The Three Rabbits' singing “Sweet Home Alabama”; this was probably around 1980. Me and Jeff didn't even acknowledge each other at school, but meeting each other at The Ruskin Arms started what was to become a lifelong friendship and musical sparring partners after deciding that we wanted to start a band playing music that we both loved. Driving South started their early days, rehearsing above 'The Denmark Arms' in East Ham. My brother was a member for a short while. The line up what was to play its debut gig (at The Ruskin incidentally) consisted of Chris Bailey (vocals), Jeff Gibbs (bass), Steve Sawkins (rhythm guitar), Stuart Rollings (lead guitar) and Dave Owen (drums). I think we got the usual 30 quid that was the norm at The Ruskin!
MMM: What were the inspirational sources of the band and what was the style of the band?
CB: Southern Rock was our influence; we used to have a rebel flag as our backdrop and we was listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, 38 Special; the more harder edged Southern bands although we were listening to the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker and Charlie Daniels; they seemed to have more of a Country edge to their music. There probably wasn't many bands doing the same stuff as us as Heavy Rock and Metal was in vogue at the time.
MMM: What was the location of the band and was there a lot of competition from other bands with regards to playing live.
CB: All the band bar one was East Enders; me and Jeff from East Ham, Steve from Barking, Dave from Stratford, Stuart being the odd one out coming from Newcastle but living in Brixton. There was other members who were in the band which I will go into later! Playing The Ruskin was always the gig that you wanted to go well because 60% of the audience was made up from other bands that played there.... I don't think there was any rivalry as far as I can remember; I think we were all involved in our own music; me and Jeff would spend every weekend up The Ruskin regardless of whether we were playing or not! Where else would two guys into Rock music and living in East Ham go???
MMM: What material of Driving South has been recorded and released?
CB: Driving South recorded their 1st demo at the BBC studios Shepherd's Bush around '81 if my memory serves me well; it was organized by Pete Fletcher (Wurzel) who managed to get access via his job. We recorded about four tracks, I think one of which remains today, the rest disappeared in time. In fairness, Pete wasn't a recording engineer so the end result can only be described as average. Driving South's next studio outing was in East Dulwich where we recorded two tracks; a much better result but we had to pay this time, that was around '81 I believe. The 3rd and final time Driving South went into a studio turned out to be a different story, Pete Phillips went on holiday in Bulgaria I believe and met up with a guy called Andy Lovell who was a sound engineer in the famous 'Marquee' studios and managed to persuade him to record Driving South. We recorded two tracks which I have included on my album and it was a fantastic experience; Pete Phillips even played the grand piano that Elton John recorded 'Yellow Brick Road' on. Looking through the Marquee archives was truly mind blowing! I think this took place around '84; that was the Last time Driving South would enter a recording studio.
MMM: Driving South was a regular act at the Ruskin Arms, how did you guys get to play there and what year(s) did you play there?
CB: one of our guitarists (Pete Phillips) kept a diary of gigs that he performed with Driving South, so fortunately I have dates that we played the Ruskin, in order; starting from September '83 we played Friday Sept 9th, Friday Oct 7th, Friday Nov 18th, Friday Dec 9th, then in '84, Friday 13th Jan with Tranz Am supporting, Friday Feb 10th and Friday Feb 24th. As you can see we was pretty much up the Ruskin every month and even more frequent in '84. Pete left in February '84 but there was more gigs played at the Ruskin with Kevin Watson I believe. When not playing the Ruskin we would be playing other local gigs including the 'Three Rabbits', The 'Cranbrook', the 'Bridge House' and the 'Tunnel Club' to name a few. I think Driving South continued till around late '84 early '85.
MMM: You guys were close with Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone, was this as Driving South, or later as Street Legal?
CB: Driving South supported Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone at 'The Bridge House' that came about probably by knowing his band which was pretty much all of Minas Tirith; another regular Ruskin band I was good friends with; Lea the guitarist, Kev the bass player and Mark the keyboard player, they used to come round my flat in Plashet Grove on a Thursday evening and we would listen to music and drink, great times! I often used to have a beer with Paul in a pub just near the top of Green Street on the way to 'The Princess Alice' where Driving South used to rehearse.
MMM: At some point, Driving South morphed into Street Legal; How and when did this happen and did this come with any line-up changes?
CB: Driving South wrapped up around 1984. Street Legal was formed again by me and Jeff. I remember one afternoon in 'The Wakefield' pub we headed back to Jeff's house and drafted an add for Melody Maker looking for musicians to form a Rock band aimed more towards A.O.R. I think we took the Southern Rock thing as far as we could! The 1st person to answer the add was Pete Rainbow (guitar) followed by Barry Everton (guitar), Robin Finesilver (keys) and Danny Rowe (drums). This was to be our longest and most successful line-up; we played numerous gigs all over London, Essex and Kent, even heading out to Paris for a short tour. We opened for a few decent acts (Roachford, Wrathchild ) and we played most of the U.S airbases as well as still doing regular dates at The Ruskin. We had a featured slot on B.B.C Radio Kent; this line-up was to change mainly due to a couple of members getting a little bit messed up with drugs which incidentally led to us getting arrested and locked up at Lake Lakenheath U.S airbase and receiving a ban for life on returning to the base. Me, Jeff and Pete remained in Street Legal; we recruited a new drummer (Spider) and a new guitarist (Jerry Barter) who worked in 'The Marquee Studios' which led us there to do further recordings and also play the famous venue. Once more, the band fragmented leaving me, Jeff and Pete again. We even had a girl keyboard player for a while but that caused problems with girlfriends in the band so that was short lived. We eventually found another drummer (Pete Cowan) and went into a studio in Catford and recorded two tracks. Pete's cousin (Glen Coe) joined the band and we recorded the video “Worlds Changing” which was recorded in “The Red House” studio in Highbury. Street Legal carried on into the early nineties before disbanding. Me, Jeff and Pete the drummer morphed into Mr. President which was a covers band which again toured London and Essex. All in all I think Street Legal was a great band; many ups and downs but hey ho that's Rock and Roll....
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Picture above left and right: Paragon at The Ruskin Arms
PARAGON – Ruskin Arms
Ruskin Arms... fond memories! This would have been around '93; quite a road trip up from Somerset to play at the Ruskin Arms, then our lead guitarist opened his guitar case to find it was empty! He blamed us of course - that we 'made' him forget it. We made an announcement on the mic asking if anyone had a spare guitar, and within minutes a punter had gone home and got one... The show went on!
Paragon links:
https://www.paragonmusic.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/paragonrocksyou/
Ruskin Arms... fond memories! This would have been around '93; quite a road trip up from Somerset to play at the Ruskin Arms, then our lead guitarist opened his guitar case to find it was empty! He blamed us of course - that we 'made' him forget it. We made an announcement on the mic asking if anyone had a spare guitar, and within minutes a punter had gone home and got one... The show went on!
Paragon links:
https://www.paragonmusic.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/paragonrocksyou/
If memory serves me right, two of my mates, Steve Price and Barry Morgan, used to be the DJ's on a Saturday evening for the Rock Night, and aside from the tunes being played at a ridiculous level through the P.A, it was a good excuse to catch up with mates for a chin-wag and to have a few medicinal lemonades (Al-ka-hol-in case you were wondering). However, the only way you could chat was to go in the front bar to hear yourself and the person you were speaking to, as trying to chat in the main bar where the tunes were being blasted, made it impossible to do so. Never-the-less, the whole atmosphere was great and no hint of trouble, or if there was, it was quickly sorted out by the bar staff or bouncers, depending on who was nearest to the incident. On more than one occasion, I have to admit to getting rather tiddly-alright ,a lot tiddly, and a little bit blurry, and how I got home to where I was living at the time, Chadwell Heath, was a complete and utter mystery and then find myself waking up the following morning with a raging hangover; fun times. Upon leaving the pub and saying goodbye to mates, the most important thing to do was to find the nearest takeaway to buy yourself a portion of chips, munchies.It’s funny; the only times I did miss going on a Saturday, was when I went to a gig, but, more than made up for it the following week and then some, LOL.
Steve Johnson, Blogger
Steve Johnson, Blogger
photo above: Tracey and Bill
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“We loved the old Ruskin as it was, with its layers of black-painted-over posters, the sound-level monitors glued up with blu-tack and the dodgy vegetation out the back. Never cut up rowdy there, or Joe - the short-but-tough ex-boxer barman with the old Lonsdale belt - would chuck you out, no matter how big & strong you thought you were. As a female, you had a choice between the loo with the seat OR the loo with the working door, but Colin's huge speaker stacks made sure you didn't miss out while you were in there, either way. I remember us helping him out as roadies a few times, wrestling the massive speakers into a trailer towed by an ancient and raucous Ford Zephyr.”
“Colin's Rock night on a Friday or Saturday at the Ruskin was a must, but we saw Rock and Blues bands there too, including the Nitro Blues Band'. They played an excellent Blues Rock set, fun guys, used to go down really well. Their set ended with us all singing “Hubba, Hubba, Hubba, Hubba” along with them to “Happy Boy”. Not sure we ever recovered from the drummer mooning the crowd as a finale though! My then partner Bill saw Iron Maiden play there a few times, as well as at other venues - The "Underwear Lady" was a regular treat for the lads - a beautiful blonde who used to turn up in just underwear and high heels, in all weathers... along with her massive Swedish boyfriend / husband. How she didn't freeze on the back of his big bike, I'll never know - I surely did on the back of ours! Bill's old friend, Lel sometimes brought her boa constrictor, Meffy, along for a night out, which was always fun... until she'd try & get a bit too cosy wrapped around your neck. 'Preacher's Creature' (Tracey) 
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Above left: a snap of The Ruskin Arms back in the day. Right: Lel (left). Pics provided by Scorch (Tracey)
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Above left Colin Ward. Above right: Lel. Photos provided by Scorch (Tracey)
The Ruskin Arms had several rooms, a pool room and two or three other rooms, and the music venue... that is still the same as it was back in the day. The pool room was on the left of the bar. Joe Luci, who was a Lonsdale-belt boxer, (his belt was on display behind the bar) and famous in the 50's, owned the place back in the day, hence the boxing ring upstairs the RUSKINS.
Pete
Pete
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Above left: Jaime Page with Gibraltar @ The Ruskin Arms. Right: Gibraltar with Jaime Page and singer Dennis Wilcock @ The Ruskin Arms
One of the bands that used to play at the Ruskin Arms back in the early 80's were GIBRALTAR, featuring ex Maiden singer Dennis Wilcock (fronting Iron Maiden after Paul Mario Day and before Paul Dianno) and guitarist Jaime Page who also played in a host of other bands, including GYPSY, BLACK ALICE, BLACK STEEL and TRILOGY who released the '85 “Life On Earth” and '86 “Next In Line” albums. In more recent times, Jaime released the concept solo-album “Dark Universe” and is currently in the process of putting together the follow-up album “Into The Black”, also under the banner of JAIME PAGE'S DARK UNIVERSE.
https://www.facebook.com/darkuniverseau/
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When me and the boys first started going... maybe 1980.... we were young and stupid.... and got into the occasional fight.... nothing too serious. Joe Lucy (British lightweight boxing champion of Britain in 1953 and Guvnor of The Ruskin) knew us too well, as did his son Tom, invited us up to watch a couple of fellas sparring in the ring upstairs.... we heard the slap of leather on skin and face and all thought; 'sod that'... better odds downstairs in the bar..... lol.... we were still naughty....
Tony Coatsworth
Tony Coatsworth
I remember my first visit at the RUSKIN ARMS.... , thing was though, that it was for 21 and over, so I had to figure out a way to get around it, and I said that I was the nephew of Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), and it worked! The barmaid seemed to like me for some odd reason, I could never understand why.....
Steve.
Steve.
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some regulars, Kevin (left) , Paul and Paul (right)
“That Ruskin Memory” story by Roy Weard for 'The Ruskin-Arms re-enacted'
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photo left: Roy Weard, Tony 'Mr Juan D'Erful' Morley and John Trelawney with DOGWATCH at The Ruskin Arms,
photo right: Roy Weard In the audience with DOGWATCH at The Ruskin Arms
photo right: Roy Weard In the audience with DOGWATCH at The Ruskin Arms
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Above left: LAST POST at The Ruskin Arms, Ronnie Raymond (now in XFX) and Tony
Above right: LAST POST at The Ruskin Arms, Steve Bensusan on guitar
Above right: LAST POST at The Ruskin Arms, Steve Bensusan on guitar
“That Ruskin Memory”
“In 1977 I was touring with a reasonably well known rock outfit, working as a merchandiser. I stood at the side of the stage watching them perform in Lund in Sweden and I was struck by how ordinary they were and how uninteresting. Some two years previous to that I had ended my own band, ‘Wooden Lion’ after three years of slugging round gigs and playing free festivals like Watchfield and Windsor. I had spent those two years selling merchandise for a variety of acts in a variety of countries and it had been great fun. Lots of alcohol, substance abuse, pleasures of the fleshier kind and some great music. In all that time I had barely missed making music myself but that night the longing came back.
When I got back to London I looked around to see who I could hook up with and found a bunch of guys called Flashpoint. They were a really great bunch, good players – if a little Hawkwind fixated. I was living in Leytonstone at the time and I used to go along to the ‘Cart and Horses’ in Stratford to watch a bizarre act called ‘Dogwatch’. When their singer quit I just had to go and audition for the gig. It was compulsion.
So, in 1978, I found myself part of Dogwatch. 1978 you realise. Right on the cusp of Punk. At the very point where it became high fashion to not play the instruments properly, have no stage act and be generally anarchic. There I was joining a band with a guitarist with long curly hair, a bassist with similar tonsure a female keyboard player, a tight drummer and a guy playing violin, trumpet, flugel horn and euphonium! Oh yes, and I was painting my face gold and dressing up in costumes - and they were all shit hot players. Not exactly the spirit of the age, then.
The new version of the band kicked off at the ‘Cart and Horses’ and began to play in other places around East London as well as other not so local venues. On the whole the reaction was good although mixed with a degree of bewilderment. And then John Trelawney, the aforementioned multi-instrumentalist, announced we had a gig at ‘The Ruskin Arms’. ‘OK’, I thought, ‘that is close by. I’ll check it out’
I arrived at ‘The Ruskin Arms’ around 9.30 one evening. There were a large number of bikes parked around it and a large number of bikers in the venue. Joe Lucy, who ran the venue then, had been ‘cuts man’ for Henry ‘splash it on all over’ Cooper , the famous boxer and there was a Lonsdale Belt mounted over the back of the bar. I can’t recall the band now but I do recall wondering how we would go down here. Two weeks later I found out. I have never been one to hold back, after all, if you are up on a stage there is no reason to stand there and worry about it, just get on and do it. We went down pretty well, I thought, and they invited us back a couple of weeks later. When we went back the audience had doubled and the next time it got more again.
We wound up with a regular Sunday night spot at the Ruskin and, best of all, the bikers seemed to love it – I never quite understood that. I mean some of it was straight up rock but some of it was almost vaudeville. As time wore on the costumes got more elaborate and more ‘over the top’. We used explosions, smoke bombs, theatrical fire and a giant 40 foot inflatable tube. In fact the whole ethos of the band was to surprise people as much as possible whilst playing some great music.
The Ruskin became my favourite gig. It was grubby and dark and the toilets were appalling but the audience were the best I ever played too. There were some wonderful people there. A soldier who had been in stationed in Ireland always had to leave during ‘The Captain’ because the explosion shook him up so much. A great group of people called ‘The Sticker Patrol’ one of whom worked in a printers and who made hundreds of stickers which they pasted up all over London ( they even went up to Leeds before we played there and stuck stickers up there so we would see them when we got there). And then there were the bikers. They were the best of all, always cheering the loudest and getting into the spirit of the mayhem we produced. Not only that but they were the sweetest bunch of people I have ever met – not that I would ever want to have been on the wrong side of them. At the end of the act I used to sneak around the back of the audience in a dirty old raincoat and an old man mask with a black and gold vibrator and touch it, vibrating, on peoples cheeks from behind. You have to trust your audience if you are going to do stuff like that.
Tony, Mr, Juan D’Erful, Morley, the bassist, had his own following. He would change hats during the show and spin them into the audience shouting, ‘Ave an ‘at’. One night they threw something back. It was large black insect with flashing eyes that they had made themselves. ‘Ave a Gnat’ they shouted. Tony also had a few ladies who were pursuing him at the time, in spite of the fact he was living with Linda Kelsey, the keyboard player. One, in particular, was very determined and she kept giving him notes and little suggestive gifts. In the end he succumbed to her yearnings and they snuck upstairs to the gym that was above the Ruskin for a (not very) quickie.
The Ruskin also had a lot of tables and chairs in it. After a while I decided to form these into a catwalk so I could step off the stage and take the act out into the audience. That proved a great success although the amount of drinks I kicked over while doing it must have increased the bar take considerably.
Amongst the bikers there was a lady called Gina. A statuesque woman who gloried in telling me about all the parties they had and the various multiple sex acts they involved. She was constantly inviting me along to these but I stayed away, mostly because her partner was a friend but also partly because he was the leader of the biker fraternity at the time. You can see him riding the lead bike at the start of the Who movie, ‘Quadrophenia’. Gina also brought her snake along with her and that wound up in the stage act for a while during ‘Queen of the Nile’. Mind you, Cleopatra had an Asp and Gina’s was a 7 foot Boa Constrictor!
When Dogwatch folded I went on to front ‘The Last Post’ and again we had a long run of Sunday nights at the Ruskin. The stage act was more involved still with a guy called Del Deacon coming along to dress up as a spaceman for ‘Invaders’ and a Policeman for ‘The Room’. At the end of the set I used to slit his throat with a Ghurkha Kukris knife during that song (having used the kukris and a meat cleaver as percussion during ‘On The Blink’). At that point the band would be singing ‘I want to see every policeman in Hell, because of what they done to me, down in the cells’ – one of Ronnie Raymond’s songs. All in fun but it did cause a bit of trouble with the local plods. (wisely, we left that song out of the set when we played in Wormwood Scrubs).
In the end ‘Roy Weard and Last Post’ ground to a halt. We almost made it to a label deal with Arista but not quite. I went off to play a robot and a bad roadie for Manfred Mann’s Earthband on the ‘Somewhere in Europe’ Tour (that is me on the live album cover) and we had played our last gig at the Ruskin.
Four years of Sunday nights, some really great people, and a whole swathe of fun. The best comment I received was overheard by Mous, our lighting lady. A member of the audience standing by the lighting desk said, ‘This is my favourite band. But I don’t sit near the front. That singer is mad – he’ll kill someone one day’ I have not done that yet.
I was sad to see it end. But it was not quite the end yet.
I got offered more work as a sound technician with various bands and spent over 20 years touring the globe making a racket. During that time I had occasional twinges of regret that it was not me on the stage kicking up a storm. I lived in Hamburg for a while and then came back to the UK and set up home in Brighton. The internet was here and I set up a website with pictures of Dogwatch and other bands on it. Soon I was getting emails from old Dogwatchers. Roger Glynn got in touch immediately and then disappeared again, Nick Sack and I met up a couple of times and John Trelawney only lives half an hour down the coast. Alan Essex, aka ‘The Cardinal Biggles’, who was the synth genius in my early band, ‘Wooden Lion’ got in touch too, after a while the urge to play again came back and we recruited Steve Bensusan from the ‘Last Post’ and now have a new band – ‘That Legendary Wooden Lion’. You can find the whole story on our website www.woodenlion.com
We went back to play at the Ruskin in the summer of 2008. Sadly the bikers were not there but it was still the same old Ruskin – the same horrid toilets the same cavern of a room. If you close you eyes you can still hear the audience shouting for more.
It was great venue in its time, starting point for many good players and great bands. I had a lot of friends there and I met a lot of fine women there and what more do you need in a venue, good women, good music and a beer?
When they close the shutters for the last time, sneak up to it in the dead of night and put your ears to the bricks, They will still vibrate to the last dying echoes of Dogwatch, Spider, Burn The Last Post, Iron Maiden and all the other great bands that made that place special”
Roy Weard of Dogwatch and That Legendary Wooden Lion
Roy has a book out with memoires of his life related to music, and has a new CD out, “This House In Amber”, both available through his website @ http://www.weard.co.uk/
“In 1977 I was touring with a reasonably well known rock outfit, working as a merchandiser. I stood at the side of the stage watching them perform in Lund in Sweden and I was struck by how ordinary they were and how uninteresting. Some two years previous to that I had ended my own band, ‘Wooden Lion’ after three years of slugging round gigs and playing free festivals like Watchfield and Windsor. I had spent those two years selling merchandise for a variety of acts in a variety of countries and it had been great fun. Lots of alcohol, substance abuse, pleasures of the fleshier kind and some great music. In all that time I had barely missed making music myself but that night the longing came back.
When I got back to London I looked around to see who I could hook up with and found a bunch of guys called Flashpoint. They were a really great bunch, good players – if a little Hawkwind fixated. I was living in Leytonstone at the time and I used to go along to the ‘Cart and Horses’ in Stratford to watch a bizarre act called ‘Dogwatch’. When their singer quit I just had to go and audition for the gig. It was compulsion.
So, in 1978, I found myself part of Dogwatch. 1978 you realise. Right on the cusp of Punk. At the very point where it became high fashion to not play the instruments properly, have no stage act and be generally anarchic. There I was joining a band with a guitarist with long curly hair, a bassist with similar tonsure a female keyboard player, a tight drummer and a guy playing violin, trumpet, flugel horn and euphonium! Oh yes, and I was painting my face gold and dressing up in costumes - and they were all shit hot players. Not exactly the spirit of the age, then.
The new version of the band kicked off at the ‘Cart and Horses’ and began to play in other places around East London as well as other not so local venues. On the whole the reaction was good although mixed with a degree of bewilderment. And then John Trelawney, the aforementioned multi-instrumentalist, announced we had a gig at ‘The Ruskin Arms’. ‘OK’, I thought, ‘that is close by. I’ll check it out’
I arrived at ‘The Ruskin Arms’ around 9.30 one evening. There were a large number of bikes parked around it and a large number of bikers in the venue. Joe Lucy, who ran the venue then, had been ‘cuts man’ for Henry ‘splash it on all over’ Cooper , the famous boxer and there was a Lonsdale Belt mounted over the back of the bar. I can’t recall the band now but I do recall wondering how we would go down here. Two weeks later I found out. I have never been one to hold back, after all, if you are up on a stage there is no reason to stand there and worry about it, just get on and do it. We went down pretty well, I thought, and they invited us back a couple of weeks later. When we went back the audience had doubled and the next time it got more again.
We wound up with a regular Sunday night spot at the Ruskin and, best of all, the bikers seemed to love it – I never quite understood that. I mean some of it was straight up rock but some of it was almost vaudeville. As time wore on the costumes got more elaborate and more ‘over the top’. We used explosions, smoke bombs, theatrical fire and a giant 40 foot inflatable tube. In fact the whole ethos of the band was to surprise people as much as possible whilst playing some great music.
The Ruskin became my favourite gig. It was grubby and dark and the toilets were appalling but the audience were the best I ever played too. There were some wonderful people there. A soldier who had been in stationed in Ireland always had to leave during ‘The Captain’ because the explosion shook him up so much. A great group of people called ‘The Sticker Patrol’ one of whom worked in a printers and who made hundreds of stickers which they pasted up all over London ( they even went up to Leeds before we played there and stuck stickers up there so we would see them when we got there). And then there were the bikers. They were the best of all, always cheering the loudest and getting into the spirit of the mayhem we produced. Not only that but they were the sweetest bunch of people I have ever met – not that I would ever want to have been on the wrong side of them. At the end of the act I used to sneak around the back of the audience in a dirty old raincoat and an old man mask with a black and gold vibrator and touch it, vibrating, on peoples cheeks from behind. You have to trust your audience if you are going to do stuff like that.
Tony, Mr, Juan D’Erful, Morley, the bassist, had his own following. He would change hats during the show and spin them into the audience shouting, ‘Ave an ‘at’. One night they threw something back. It was large black insect with flashing eyes that they had made themselves. ‘Ave a Gnat’ they shouted. Tony also had a few ladies who were pursuing him at the time, in spite of the fact he was living with Linda Kelsey, the keyboard player. One, in particular, was very determined and she kept giving him notes and little suggestive gifts. In the end he succumbed to her yearnings and they snuck upstairs to the gym that was above the Ruskin for a (not very) quickie.
The Ruskin also had a lot of tables and chairs in it. After a while I decided to form these into a catwalk so I could step off the stage and take the act out into the audience. That proved a great success although the amount of drinks I kicked over while doing it must have increased the bar take considerably.
Amongst the bikers there was a lady called Gina. A statuesque woman who gloried in telling me about all the parties they had and the various multiple sex acts they involved. She was constantly inviting me along to these but I stayed away, mostly because her partner was a friend but also partly because he was the leader of the biker fraternity at the time. You can see him riding the lead bike at the start of the Who movie, ‘Quadrophenia’. Gina also brought her snake along with her and that wound up in the stage act for a while during ‘Queen of the Nile’. Mind you, Cleopatra had an Asp and Gina’s was a 7 foot Boa Constrictor!
When Dogwatch folded I went on to front ‘The Last Post’ and again we had a long run of Sunday nights at the Ruskin. The stage act was more involved still with a guy called Del Deacon coming along to dress up as a spaceman for ‘Invaders’ and a Policeman for ‘The Room’. At the end of the set I used to slit his throat with a Ghurkha Kukris knife during that song (having used the kukris and a meat cleaver as percussion during ‘On The Blink’). At that point the band would be singing ‘I want to see every policeman in Hell, because of what they done to me, down in the cells’ – one of Ronnie Raymond’s songs. All in fun but it did cause a bit of trouble with the local plods. (wisely, we left that song out of the set when we played in Wormwood Scrubs).
In the end ‘Roy Weard and Last Post’ ground to a halt. We almost made it to a label deal with Arista but not quite. I went off to play a robot and a bad roadie for Manfred Mann’s Earthband on the ‘Somewhere in Europe’ Tour (that is me on the live album cover) and we had played our last gig at the Ruskin.
Four years of Sunday nights, some really great people, and a whole swathe of fun. The best comment I received was overheard by Mous, our lighting lady. A member of the audience standing by the lighting desk said, ‘This is my favourite band. But I don’t sit near the front. That singer is mad – he’ll kill someone one day’ I have not done that yet.
I was sad to see it end. But it was not quite the end yet.
I got offered more work as a sound technician with various bands and spent over 20 years touring the globe making a racket. During that time I had occasional twinges of regret that it was not me on the stage kicking up a storm. I lived in Hamburg for a while and then came back to the UK and set up home in Brighton. The internet was here and I set up a website with pictures of Dogwatch and other bands on it. Soon I was getting emails from old Dogwatchers. Roger Glynn got in touch immediately and then disappeared again, Nick Sack and I met up a couple of times and John Trelawney only lives half an hour down the coast. Alan Essex, aka ‘The Cardinal Biggles’, who was the synth genius in my early band, ‘Wooden Lion’ got in touch too, after a while the urge to play again came back and we recruited Steve Bensusan from the ‘Last Post’ and now have a new band – ‘That Legendary Wooden Lion’. You can find the whole story on our website www.woodenlion.com
We went back to play at the Ruskin in the summer of 2008. Sadly the bikers were not there but it was still the same old Ruskin – the same horrid toilets the same cavern of a room. If you close you eyes you can still hear the audience shouting for more.
It was great venue in its time, starting point for many good players and great bands. I had a lot of friends there and I met a lot of fine women there and what more do you need in a venue, good women, good music and a beer?
When they close the shutters for the last time, sneak up to it in the dead of night and put your ears to the bricks, They will still vibrate to the last dying echoes of Dogwatch, Spider, Burn The Last Post, Iron Maiden and all the other great bands that made that place special”
Roy Weard of Dogwatch and That Legendary Wooden Lion
Roy has a book out with memoires of his life related to music, and has a new CD out, “This House In Amber”, both available through his website @ http://www.weard.co.uk/
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Above left: LAST POST at The Ruskin Arms, Roy Wood and Tony during the opening song 'The Triangle'
Above right: LAST POST at The Ruskin Arms, Roy Weard in the audience during the song 'The Room'
Above right: LAST POST at The Ruskin Arms, Roy Weard in the audience during the song 'The Room'
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